Sunday, May 20, 2012

Let's just face it. There is nobody in our system. Marte is not ready. Hague is not the answer. Fox is not the answer. Clement is not the answer. Mercer isn't the answer yet, at least.

We could try all of those guys, sure, but I don't think we're going to find any interesting results.

Max Scherzer appreciated the Pirates 15 K effort

A major league trade needs to be made. An Alonso type trade. A Bourn or a Pence type trade. Why? Our offensive problems are not temporary. There is nobody. NOBODY, outside of Josh Bell who looks like they could seriously cause some damage at the major league level.

Our pitching however, is pretty deep. Much deeper than thought at the beginning of the season. Guys like Rudy Owens and Justin Wilson look like they could come up and at the very least, fill a rotation spot. Brad Lincoln looks like he might be able to be successful in the rotation.

So here's what I would do.

Trade Joel Hanrahan, Erik Bedard and Jose Tabata.

What are you going to get for them? Who knows. Billy Butler? Alex Gordon? Justin Morneau?

Anyone would help right now.

You trade Joel Hanrahan because he is easily replaced. He doesn't have extraordinary trade value, but it isn't bad. I think Brad Lincoln, Moskos, or a number of other guys could actually step into the closer's role and be successful.

You trade Bedard because he has some good trade value right now while he is still healthy. It's not massive, there is a reason why we got him for so cheap. BUT, some teams do need some rotation help and he brings that. The Royals and the Twins though (the teams that have guys like Butler, Gordon, Morneau) probably won't be very interested in him. Easily replaced (probably not with as good of results, but worth it to get a bat) by Owens, Wilson or Lincoln.

Tabata is essentially a throw in. I don't think he carries major trade value as he hasn't proven much at the major league level, but he does add some intrigue due to a low age and decent upside. Easily replaced by Marte

Andrew McCutchen is absolutely killing it, but nobody else appears to want to contribute. Alvarez has reverted back to his early season self for the moment, Neil Walker isn't quite doing what he should be, and everyone else is just plain awful.

A few more notes and stuff

-Harrison isn't the answer at shortstop. Right now he's probably better than Barmes, but that won't last long. If both Barmes & Harrison play 162 games, Barmes is going to have better numbers.

-Speaking of Barmes, I would continue to play him for another couple of weeks. He isn't THIS bad. Nobody can possibly be this fking awful. His career hitting numbers aren't great, so I'm not sure what everyone is expecting, but he should be doing much better than this. An OPS near .700 isn't too much to expect, and would drastically improve this team.

-I like picking up Adam Lind, but the high cost might not be worth it. I think he could turn it around a bit, but probably not enough to justify his contract. Doubt we'll see him in a Pittsburgh uniform.

-Keep in mind, with all of this doomsday talk of the offense, the Pirates are still just 3 games under .500. They came very close to taking a series against the Tigers (who are also under .500 despite having a ridiculously powerful lineup).

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Pirates won a baseball game on Tuesday due to a walk-off home run from none other than Rod Barajas. The Bucs looked all but done after Adam LaRoche mashed a 2 run blast off of Joel Hanrahan to ruin his save opportunity and take the lead.

Casey McGehee lead off the 9th by flying out to right. Boy isn't he starting to look awfully below average? Every start he gets, he looks more and more like 2011 Casey McGehee. My guess? He was probably a product of a ballpark in which the ball launches off anybody's bat (I mean really, Andy LaRoche hit a ball off of the second deck in left field).

In 2010, which would probably be considered his career year, McGehee hit a mediocre .728 away from Miller Park. I think people usually overrate the effect that protection has in a lineup, but it's probably fair to say that McGehee saw plenty of good pitches with both Braun and Fielder ahead of him. Those guys were ALWAYS on base, you don't want to walk a guy when there are runners on. McGehee isn't going to get that treatment here.

But I digress...

So McGehee flys out. Presley pinch hits for Watson next. Presley fights a blooper into center field for a base hit. Talk about clutch. Presley pinch hit on Saturday and came up with a game winning home run.

Who's up next? Barmes. Hurdle says "Son of a...who the hell wants to bat." Navarro raises his hand, he goes to the plate. After Rodriguez unleashes a couple of wild pitches to get to third base, Navarro can't even come up with a productive out to get Presley home with just one out. He strikes out. 2 outs.

Barajas comes to the plate. You know, the guy with like a .00048 OPS? The guy with no RBIs and no home runs? The guy that likely made hundreds of Pirate fans turn off their TVs and resume their nightly routine?

But really, what a game. What can you even say? Did he redeem himself? Heeeeelll no. Barajas has been beyond awful, so bad this year. BUT, he did come through in the clutch against a team that leads one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

Baseball is an odd game. How does this happen? Burnett gives up 12 runs, then strikes out 10. Barajas looks worse than a high school bench player, then crushes a bomb to win the team a ball game.

It just goes to show how everything we think we know about baseball goes out the window when that baseball is on its way to the plate. All of our stats, sabremetrics, analysis, predictions...etc, etc. Garbage. Useless. Shit. That's why the game is so great.

Getting back to the game again, what about Joel Hanrahan. He has not been good this year, and I think he NEEDS to be on his way out of town. The Yankees look like they aren't going to be pursuing anyone, Robertson seems more than qualified for their closer position, but several other teams may be in need.

Closers are overrated, I think that idea has become more and more widespread throughout baseball, so why not deal Hanrahan while he still has good value? Closers come and go like no other position in baseball, the Pirates NEED to cash in and grab a bat for him while they can.

Who would we put in his place? Brad Lincoln. Yeah, the first rounder who was supposed to be a top of the rotation guy? Why? Because he still has top of the rotation stuff. He has the mid nineties fast ball and the ridiculous curveball. Don't think that's enough to be a closer? How many pitches does Hanrahan have? 2. That's all you need, but I think Lincoln has more than that.

Lincoln has been effective this year, and I see no reason why he couldn't handle the 9th inning role.